Egypt enforces ban on international voice calls made over mobile Internet

There are many ways in which new technology can kill old technology, and one of them is when new tech fully disables the old tech provider’s source of revenue. Without revenue, providers of the old tech cannot operate, and slowly but surely, the new tech will take over.

A perfect representation of this situation can be seen over at Egypt, where the National Telecom Regulatory Authority has issued a ban on VoIP or calls made over the Internet (mobile Internet to be more specific). This ban affects three mobile operators, namely, Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat.
According to Egyptian law, all international calls must pass through state-owned Egypt Telecom, which in 2009 recorded lower than expected earnings. Perhaps this has something to do with the sudden ban on international voice calls over the Internet, which if anything, makes life easier for those who frequently call overseas because it is free.